The Royal Paladin clan, usually abbreviated as RP, are a clan that have been around since the beginning of the game. Having started in Descent of the Knight King. They were made as the very first Trial Deck: TD01: Blaster Blade, and still spread their influence amongst all players today, being one of the most popular clans in the game. Unfortunately, with the arrival of the Gold Paladin clan, and these heroes being sealed away as foretold in their card lore, they won't be getting as much support as they used too. Still, that does not mean our Royal Paladin brethren are ever forgotten. They still live on in the hearts of many, currently doing so in the English Metagame, and even with a new Limit Break Unit.

One of the reasons why this clan is so popular is because some fans have a tendency to use decks used by a Main Character. Royal Paladin is the clan played by the Lead of the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime himself: Aichi Sendou. Thanks to him, everyone has a very clear idea on how to run the deck.

Royal Paladins have a multitude of deck styles, being one of the biggest clans in the entire game. They have an evolution series, soul charging strategies, even mindless aggression if you could. The main focus, however, will always be The Power of Friendship. The ability to swarm will always be your friend here.

II - Royal Paladin: Build Explanation

This is a legalized build, so no Barcgal, Wingal Brave instead. Even without that soul stacking Vanguard Starter, it does main Soul Saver Dragon. The idea is very simple every game, and that is to build up soul and swing for a +15000 turn for a Final Turn. However, this isn't always necessary. You have gigantic beaters here, along with a usually default 20000 Vanguard on your turn, so you can always resort to senseless beatdown if all else fails. Constantly swarming and keeping up advantage will always be a plus.

IIb - Grade 1 Explanation

• Little Sage, Marron - The ideal Starting Vanguard and the best booster you can possibly have behind Vanguard besides one other unit. Being the 8000 Vanilla, this is obvious. The thing is however, this single booster can make insanely destructive powers that are commonly 21000. You can give 11000 Vanguards a run for their money, because this deck makes it so you can constantly swing for that much with literally no hassle. All of this makes it worth maxing.

• Flash Shield, Iseult - The world of Vanguard has evolved with the addition of Limit Break. These Limit Break units can very easily wreck your set up, or wreck your 10000 Powered Vanguards, which is very bad. To be absolutely sure you have a Null in nearly every situation, run 4. It may seem like it clogs, but it's better to have them maxed in the long run regardless.

• Toypugal - The most insane booster in the deck once you get Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes out as a rearguard. It allows you to swing with 22000 units while boosting the previously mentioned Grade 3 and Soul Saver Dragon, rivaling the ever mighty Majesty Lord Blaster. It's quite literally the best booster Royal Paladins have, they don't even need a bloody 10000 Boster, this is enough. Run 3-4, seriously, this is good.

• Pongal - This unit has the ability to search out Soul Saver Dragon by adding itself to soul, and can be Superior Called via High Dog Breeder, Akane's skill. This is absolutely amazing. Thins deck out of a Grade 3, fuels soul to actually get Holy Charging Roar off, searchable, and it's a 7000 booster to boot. Thing is though, you don't want to be running a huge amount of these, because you don't want to run too many copies of Soul Saver Dragon, since you'll only be getting it off once a game. Run 1-2, at the most. Though, this is still something nice to have, regardless.

• Lake Maiden, Lien - See those King of Knights, Alfred copies? Yeah, once you get your one, you don't need anymore. You only need one Soul Saver Dragon too unless you're forced to Ride one if you don't have another Grade 3. Once you fill up Soul Margal is kinda dead too. So having the Royal Paladin version of Nostrum Witch, Arianhod is very nice here, just to cycle through cards. With all the Grade 3s in this deck, Morikawa curse will hit you. Ditch those dead ones and get shields! Run this at two.

IIc - Grade 2 Explanation

• Blaster Blade - The Holy Swordsman of the Shining Land, the strongest Swordsman, and the Avatar of the Royal Paladins. Fits the trope of The Ace, as it should. But honestly, if you're going for a more competitive take on Royal Paladins, run no more than three of this. I actually used to max this because it was and still is my absolute favorite card. But aside from that, see that Vanguard only skill? Know that unless your opponent hits you hard with a Critical Trigger on their first attack, or they went first and swarmed you with Grade 2s, you'll most likely never use it. Though, if your opponent has a unit that's extremely dangerous on the field like Lizard Solider, Conroe or something, you can consider praying for them to top a Critical and using this. The fact that it can do this as a Rearguard, at the cost of only being able to hit Grade 2 or 3 units, makes it stronger than his Dark Counterpart: Blaster Dark by miles. This means that Blaster Blade has amazing use late game, something that Blaster Dark can never hope for. Huge beaters that have the ability to swing for 20000 like Burning Horn Dragon or S Special Intercepts like Knight of Truth, Gordon can be blown out of the water and make way for you to win the game. Though, do know that he's just a default 9000 Beater after that.

• Knight of Silence, Gallatin - He's blind. He's deaf. He has 10000 power. Makes perfect sense. Along with Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes, you're gonna love having a powerful 10000 unit out. Your lineup is incredibly destructive with the beatsticks you'll have out, and Gallatin is no different from any of them. Holy Charging Roar will easily shoot this thing over 20000, and to make matters worse for the opponent, having any booster in the deck will allow it to soar up in power and fly at the strongest of vanguards with no problem. Definitely worth maxing in every Royal Paladin deck. I'm running him at 3 for reasons I'm about to explain with the Grade 2 after Akane.

• High Dog Breeder, Akane - One of the low beaters of the deck. She's got a pathetic 8000, so you'll usually want to pawn her off as an intercept to make way for Gallatin/Lamorak or Palamedes. Her skill is what's important. You can Superior Call from your deck: Pongal and Toypugal. Or if you're going for a fun build, even Wingal behind Blaster Blade. She searches out your second strongest booster (only because Marron is always on 8000 and there's a chance you won't draw Palamedes) and the searcher for Soul Saver Dragon. The cute redhead her plays a role in making your future plays deadly. Run 3-4. You could always max in the Royal Paladin deck that focuses on Fang of Light, Garmall and Hi-Beasts with its Blizzard Formation, but I'm not one to talk on that deck type.

• Knight of Determination, Lamorak - The other 10000 Grade 2 in Royal Paladins. ... There's literally nothing to say here that hasn't been said about Gallatin. The ability to have TWO of these units is amazing and I recommend running both. You can run them at whatever numbers, but carry at least 5 in the deck. 5 is a good number, or 4.

IIId - Grade 3 Explanation

• King of Knights, Alfred - Authority Equals a** Kicking and The Power of Friendship taken to the extreme. The legendary king himself plays the role of your central Grade 3 of the game. 10000 Vanguards will cower in fear on your turn, because at the cost of not being able to boost this guy, the ruler of knights gets +2000 for each one of his Royal Paladin brethren out on the battlefield with him. That's a maximum of 20000 during every single one of your turns for just doing what Royal Paladins should be: swarming. That's not including Triggers or use of Margal either. Also, though a hefty cost, his Counterblast can Superior Call any Grade 2 Royal Paladin from your deck. Call forth your fellow brethren for his ultimate power up! You can even do it by having five unflipping damage, Superior Calling Akane then Superior Calling anotherRoyal Paladin for a +2. This card is insanely good and should be ran at 3-4. With the amount of Grade 3s you're likely to run, 3 sounds best.

• Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes - Literally the best rearguard in this deck. I mean that in every sense of the word. This unit gains Power +3000 when it attacks for having two Grade 3 Royal Paladin units out, including itself. You have a default 13000 attacker the second you call this thing, which automatically lets it take a swing at one of the mighty Crossrides by itself! To make matters even more ridiculous, boosting it with Toypugal, who gains Power +3000 via its own skill once you have this, lets you smash into the opponent with 22000 power. It strikes fear even in the heart of Majesty Lord Blaster. If not, with Marron, it still smacks down all 11000 and below Vanguards. This card design is clearly absurd, but you would be a fool not to run something this good. 2-3 is the way to go with this guy. Teching just 1 is gonna be too little, and is going to hurt the usefulness of Toypugal too.

• Soul Saver Dragon - The ultimate trump card of the Royal Paladin clan, being the very Goddess who watches over them and "rocks the souls of the brave" with her Holy Charging Roar. This is one of the reasons why Barcgal was banned, if not, the main reason. She is commonly referred to as "Soul Boobs" for being a Female Dragon. Moving on, her skill is built for a near-unstoppable Final Turn or to completely burn out your opponent's hand and win on your next. Before you attempt to even think about riding this card, make absolutely certain that you have 5 Cards in your soul, including your current Vanguard. Unless you have some bad Aichi Syndrome, don't ride this. Her skill is a one-time thing. You want to save her for an explosive assault that ends your foe. Her Soul Blast gives three Royal Paladin allies +5000 Power for your entire turn. You'll naturally give it to your two Front Row rearguards and Soul Saver's booster. You can swing with three attacks ALL over 25000. That's "Victory"! With a V! This even gets +3000 Power when attacking a Vanguard just to seal the deal!

III - Controversial Choices

• Knight of Truth, Gordon - The S Special Intercept unit that some friends and I normally debated about in terms of usefulness. One said Royal Paladins can't generate advantage as easily, so having extra defense would be nice. Another said that S Special Intercepts just don't have as much use, being outclassed by many other cards. Whether you want the extra defense is entirely up to you, but this is a pure offensive charge of a deck. Gordon will have no place here.

• Wingal - Blaster Blade's loyal companion that turns The Ace into a 19000 beater, which can topple the 18000 barrier when facing a Crossride. Sadly, Wingal's a dead 6000 if boosting anything else. The default 7000s make better choices. Not to mention that 19000 columns are usually terrible against most things anyway. You can only effectively smash into 9000 Vanguards, which are bad in the first place.

• Alfred Early - I've argued with someone about this card's usefulness, even though he only ran it at one. Honestly, the card isn't that bad. It's just extremely counterproductive in standard Royal Paladin decks. By Riding him, you can Superior Call Blaster Blade from soul, getting another Grade 2 unit out by your side and retiring a unit, all while only having used one card in your hand. Sounds great, right? Well in this deck, that's going to hurt A LOT. Blaster Blade is now out of soul, meaning that you're one less from Holy Charging Roar. This is very bad, because now you have to throw down extra resources just to set it up. Ride again, throw down another Margal or even 2 of those. You can run this as a fun tech, I guess, but never anymore than 2, if that. I'd prefer 1 or not at all and riding it only if Holy Charging Roar failed and you need anything you can use to win.

• Solitary Knight, Gancelot - Recently removed from this deck. There are reasons for this: this deck needs 4 Perfect Guards and Gancelot has little use. It can search out the Ace by placing itself back in the deck for Wingal Brave, but it isn't worth it considering what you're keeping it out for. It's a 9000 power Vanguard, which is likely to be smashed into mercilessly. You can do without the Skill, and that's one less Grade 3 you're dealing with. This should never been ran at more than 1, but in this case, you don't need it.

IIII - How to play...

IIIIa - With

Your Starting Vanguard will be Wingal Brave, obviously. You have no triggers with recycle skills, so you don't have much choice. For your hand, just do what you would for any standard deck: open with one of each grade. For your Grade 3, preferably King of Knights, Alfred. If you have a single High Dog Breeder, Akane, keep it and mulligan the others as your please. You only need one to get going. Mulligan Soul Saver Dragon if you have another Grade 3 to ride. For Grade 1s, open with Little Sage, Marron or Lake Maiden, Lien if possible.

For your Grade 1, ride either Marron or Lien, depending on who went first. If you did, you'll want to go Lien and ditch a dead card in hand to draw. If your opponent did, Ride Marron. You could Ride Lien regardless if you want to keep Marron as a booster, go right ahead. Just remember that you'll be losing Lien's draw power for later. If Blaster Blade is in your hand, move Wingal Brave to the Circle behind Vanguard. If not, move it to another Column. I'm going to be explaining why in a minute. Call additional Rearguards if necessary to hit if you went second. If you got a bad hand, go ahead and ride Flash Iseult, Iseult. No point in waiting for another Grade 1 unless you went first, but even then, I strongly do not recommend waiting.

For Grade 2, ride either Blaster Blade or High Dog Breeder Akane. The latter ONLY if you have two damage. The reason for these choices is because for Blaster Blade, you're not going to need him as much as the other two, his other copies are extremely searchable, and Wingal Brave will be behind Vanguard. Akane is because she's a weak 8000 unit, so riding her when you can use her Counterblasts lets you save up on Blaster Blades later in and Gallatins/Lamoraks. Ride Knight of Silence, Gallatin or Knight of Determination, Lamorak if necessary. Here, you can start calling however you please. It's best to call out Gallatin/Lamorak with the Vanguard and go on the offensive right off the bat. Have Gallatin/Lamorak get rid of the irritating rearguards when needed and know that you have a chance of ripping a Stand Trigger here, making things more fun for your round of Grade 2 attacks.

Grade 3, this is where you start your endless, brutal assaults. Ride King of Knights, Alfred. If you don't have him, Soul Saver Dragon will do until you get your second copy. Launch out whatever you can for massive powerhouses. Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes should be played immediately just for the outrageous power he can soar to. Call boosters, and if you can, one behind Alfred. If you don't have three boosters to slap down from hand do not call a booster behind Alfred. You won't need it that badly. While swarming your opponent with powerful strikes, set up five cards in soul if possible. Throw down Margal or use another Powgal, even re-ride Alfred if need be. I don't recommend the later at all because that could be used for Lien or Iseult.

Now for the finale! Ride Soul Saver Dragon when your opponent is sitting on 4 or so damage, or if they're on 3 if you're feeling ballsy enough and rock the souls of the Royal Paladin army with Holy Charging Roar! This is where your gigantic beaters: Gallatin/Lamorak and Palamedes, along with boosters Marron and Toypugal shine brighter than anyone else. Your offensive power will absolutely skyrocket for this turn, and you can let out an unstoppable wave of attacks that will rip the opponent a new one. Giving power to your two front row Rearguards (hopefully one is Palamedes with Toypugal behind it) and Soul Saver's booster, you can swing for at least over 23000 with every attack. Your opponent is going to have one HELL of a time stopping all of that if they're on their last leg. Expect nulls to fly at your attacking Soul Saver, but that's quite alright. Give your Trigger powers to a standing Palamedes for a massive strike with 32000 power! Or 37000 if you get lucky. Your Stand Triggers are gonna shine here too, because as I said, that power gain is for the entire turn, so you can go for at least one more attack at 20000! Even if your opponent has survived, you've wiped out a good portion of, if not, their entire hand. All you have to do is live to your next turn, and they can't stop you.

Standard Royal Paladin decks will always function like this. Massive swarming and then basically mindless aggro until Soul Saver Dragon, then it's an explosive Final Turn.

IIIIb - Against

It's not easy, fending off the Royal Knights of the United Sanctuary. But it is entirely possible. Here's some tips on how to stop them from running you out of the Nation.

Wingal Brave - This is a very dangerous card, as it helps Royal Paladin players set up for Soul Saver Dragon easily, and then still have backup with an additional Blaster Blade. If it's possible, risk a trigger and throw down a Shield when Blaster Blade attacks while boosted by Wingal Brave. Try not to waste all of your shields stopping him. If you can't, you can't. Just be ready for Holy Charging Roar.

Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes - This will quite literally be the most destructive Rearguard in the game and you need to KILL it. Don't waste all of your effort on it, but kill. it. Those 21000+ swings are going to be the very end of you if you don't stop him. If you're not pushing for game, go ahead and let your rearguards bully him. Palamedes is invaluable to your opponent, so they will defend it. They'll toss out more shields and eventually, it will die or they will have thrown down everything.

Soul Saver Dragon/King of Knights, Alfred - Royal Paladin decks focus on their Power of Friendship, so it's your job to tear apart these bonds. When not applying pressure to the Vanguard, bully the stronger Rearguards like Gallatin/Lamorak and Palamedes. Blaster Blade too if Wingal Brave is behind him. The two trump cards of the Holy Knights are nothing without their fellow brethren. Alfred will become a 16000 swinger at the most. While Holy Charging Roar will either not happen due to lack of allies to call, or just be less effective because your opponent will have to boost back row, making Stand Triggers very lackluster in their cases. Also, always slap down a Null against a Soul Saver Dragon that has hit 25000+ Power. You're going to waste too much precious advantage trying to stop her if you don't.

Applying Pressure - If you have the means to constantly bully your opponent in any way, please do so. Burn out everything they have. That's general knowledge when facing any deck, but for Royal Paladin decks, this is going to be a huge problem. It will get to the point of where they are forced to start intercepting/guarding with precious Grade 1/2s, and in the best case scenario, forced to discard the mighty Palamedes with Flash Shield, Iseult. Or even one of the other two trump cards. Continuously hound your enemy, as the Royal Knights cannot guard forever, nor can they last with severely weakened forces. After surviving a desperate Holy Charging Roar, if they have little to nothing left in hand, you've won.

Kagero Players - In the case of using Kagero, you should be able to easily win the game. You players boast extremely dangerous skills such as that of Gatling Claw Dragon, Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara, Berserk Dragon, and even Blazing Flare Dragon. Hell, the Wind of the Apocalypse: Dragonic Overlord can even make them panic when faced with an Eternal Flame. Dragon Monk, Goku and Amber Dragon, Eclipse are also insanely good here. All of these cards RETIRE, so you're going to put a such a major damper in the Royal Paladin forces, they'll never be able to reach full power. Even in the English Meta, Wyvern Strike, Tejas can bring down the legal Barcgal and severely cripple your foe.

Perfect Guard - In the face of both Holy Charging Roar and the ruler of all knights: Alfred, you'll want to use Null Guards mainly for these two. Use against Alfred only in the case of believing that it's impossible to guard against him and his allies all at once without it. As mentioned above, use it when Soul Saver Dragon is boosted during the turn of a Holy Charging Roar. Don't be afraid to use it on Palamedes if you're literally completely out of options. He's coming at you with ridiculous strength, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Last edited by Kirino Kousaka on Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:46 pm; edited 30 times in total

I don't really think Gigantech would have to be something you only use in non-competitive matches, but I do't see how you'd be able to fit any into the deck without going overboard on G3s. Also, since you have the Wingals, I don't think triple Pongal is necessary, since you'll still have stuff to call with the last Akane and you only run 2 SSD anyway. And how are the Gordons? I never was a big fan of S-Specials.

Gigantech is there only to topdeck something to call and fill up field with Alfred. Pongal is a nice 7k booster, I guess. idk what would be better. Gordon is more or less a decoy than anything, because you'll only ever so rarely get the S Special Intercept off before it's dead.

I've never really liked running S-Specials unless there's really no better choice. Here, there is, and that would be maxing Gallatin before putting this in. That would only leave room for one, and cards at a single copy isn't that good of an idea unless starters ofc. I could be fanboying here, but Akane at four isn't that bad either, since you have quite a bit you can grab with her (I should not have said that in front of you people) and the power is the same.

Garmall Usui wrote:I've never really liked running S-Specials unless there's really no better choice. Here, there is, and that would be maxing Gallatin before putting this in. That would only leave room for one, and cards at a single copy isn't that good of an idea unless starters ofc. I could be fanboying here, but Akane at four isn't that bad either, since you have quite a bit you can grab with her (I should not have said that in front of you people) and the power is the same.

Maxing Gallatin would be smarter, and doing so with Akane as well wouldn't be a bad idea at all. It's just that Gordon's S Special Intercept could make up for a lack of hand, or at least that was what Rod was saying.

If I do take out both Gordons, I'd prolly max Gallatin and maybe run another Pongal or Soul Saver, or even tech a Palamedes @1.

Heavily considering making the Palamedes Teched build the main build. Gordon has no place in it, so in exchange for the S Special Intercept, I get a massive Grade 3 Beatstick. Not only that, but Gallatin and Akane get to be maxed for shit too.

Other than same bad luck with Elaine, the deck can put up defenses pretty well. Praying for no triggers when guarding helps.

In all fairness, there's not much that could be changed on this version. Changes would change the deck's focus so yeah.

Honestly? I've tried builds before the Palamedes changes with Alfred Early teched in. I actually really want to play him. The only problem is that he's ridiculously counterproductive with Soul Saver Dragon in the deck. I think he'd want his own build.